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Monday, May 16, 2011

O.(T.) No, they didn't

At our meeting last week, the school suggested that Occupational Therapy was basically the cure to all of our ills. Of course, that is a service the district does not provide so I needed to take care of it. The school psychologist suggested I contact my insurance company to find out if services were covered, since paying out of pocket for that is cost prohibitive (or as she put it "insanely and dauntingly expensive"). My insurance is stupid and only open until 4:45 so I wasn't able to call last week.

I called today and was transferred around a couple of times. Eventually, I got to someone who told me that, while O.T. is covered, I need a referral from my doctor (no problem, I totally expected that) but that once that referral was made, we would have to visit the O.T., who would then contact the insurance to find out if services were ACTUALLY covered. I know, I totally felt my head explode as she was explaining it to me. So basically, I have to go and hope that the visit is covered or pony up the cost. Of course, I have no idea what that cost might actually amount to.

I called WF's doctor to get the referral process started and the nurse seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. She said the school usually handles O.T. services and she didn't know what they could do. I explained that the services were cut so we were trying to make up that difference ourselves. She said they don't actually offer O.T. services and can't refer us to Carle, who does offer O.T. She at least agreed with me that there was really no need for an office visit, since there was nothing to diagnose. She ended up giving me their fax number and telling me to talk to the school and have them fax over his assessment and their recommendation for treatment and we'll "see if we can figure something out"

So basically, I'm back at square one as far as getting him O.T. services goes. The school can't help, the insurance won't help and the doctor doesn't know how to help.

On a bright note, I did get to check out the new spelling system they are suggesting for him and I could totally make it myself, at home, for under $10! They said I could use the books they have to get him a jump on it, so I don't need to spend $250 per lesson or buy an iPad (since the app they suggested is only available for iPad AND costs $23!), so that was good news. The special ed teacher also recommended a dictation program for him to do his homework with. It isn't perfect, but it is a place to start, so that the words get on the page and he can at least work on editing.